Daily Lesson for September 24, 2014

Today's daily lesson comes from Acts chapter 19:

 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 

John the Baptist came baptizing on the banks of the Jordan with locusts in his teeth and hell, fire, and brimstone in his sermons. His was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. But when Jesus was baptized something spectacular happened; the Holy Spirit came and descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.

I don't know anybody whose baptism consisted of a bird swooping down upon them - definitely not in the inside the baptistery. But what happened to Jesus in a visible way needs to happen to all of us in a spiritual way. The Holy Spirit must be present and active in the new life our baptism signifies.

John's baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins is a great first step. We must all be convicted of our sin and seek repentance (literally meaning to "think differently) which leads us to finding forgiveness. But that really is only the first step; and it can be an incredibly frustrating experience if the new life we seek, symbolized by baptism, stops there. Feeling guilty, and trying to think differently do lead us to find forgiveness, but it really isn't enough to begin living differently - to find a truly new life, free from the bondage of sin. That can only happen through the power of the Holy Spirit.

AA is right; we are powerless without God. All the hell, fire, brimstone, and locust sermons, guilt-inducing altar calls, aisle walks, trying, trying again, never agains, and this time I mean its in the world won't get us there without the power of God. Repentance is good. It is a must.  But it won't get us there. Only God's spirit can get us there.

If you feel like you are stuck in John's baptism ask God to send the Holy Spirit into your life.